


Idyll

by zeldadestry



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-04
Updated: 2010-07-04
Packaged: 2017-10-10 09:36:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/98215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeldadestry/pseuds/zeldadestry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Pet me!" she ordered.  "My fur is soft."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Idyll

Sirius woke up with a headache and a sore jaw, the fingers of his right hand twitching for a cigarette. Where the hell was his jacket? "Accio cigs," he muttered, though he knew it was useless, Andromeda had made it impossible for anyone in the house, other than herself and Ted, to use magic. The ban was necessary because Nymphadora, apparently not satisfied by amusing herself with constant metamorphing (god, how he loved the little rascal), was perpetually trying to steal her parents' wands and wreak a five year old's brand of havoc. Sirius still regretted not being around on the day she'd managed to fill all the bathtubs with chocolate pudding, or the time she'd charmed all the animals on her wallpaper to talk, deafening the entire house with the barnyard squawks, bleats, oinks, and whinnies blasting from her room. "ACCIO, CIGS," he repeated, once with wand and once without, before shouting: "ANDROMEDA!"

"Sirius?" His cousin knocked softly at the door. "For god's sake, keep it down. Want some coffee?"

"Only if you put some whiskey in it," he called back. "I know Ted's got the good stuff." He was goading her. Andromeda never served alcohol in her home, although she didn't mind if her husband drank. None of the Tonks were alcoholics, as far as Sirius knew, but that certainly couldn't be said of their family tree.

"Right, just tea for you, then. I've got someone here who'd like to see you."

"A pretty lady?"

"Of course." Andromeda opened the door and Sirius jumped back at the sight of the creature holding her hand. "What the fuck is that?" He covered his mouth when Andromeda glared at him. "Sorry," he mumbled from behind his hand. "Is that you, Nymphy? Come give me a hug." Nymphadora bounded over to him.

"Pet me!" she ordered. "My fur is soft."

"Wow," he said, stroking his hand over the top of her head and behind her ears as though she were a cat. "How'd you decide on purple?"

"It's my favorite color."

"Lovely."

"What's yours?"

"Blue."

"OK, cover your eyes." He peered out from behind his parted fingers. "No peeking!" shrieked Nymphadora. He stuck his tongue out at her and she grabbed the tip of it between her furry fingers.

"Nymphy, don't do that," her mother said, pulling her daughter's hand away from Sirius.

Sirius closed his eyes. "Go on, then, I'm being good." When she tapped his knee he opened his eyes again and saw, as he'd expected, that she'd turned herself brilliant blue. "Gorgeous," he said, lifting her up to sit beside him on the bed. "Where are my cigs, mommy?" he asked Andromeda, who grabbed his shirt off the floor and dropped it in his lap.

"You've got lipstick smeared across your chest." Sirius's face burned. "Just how good a time did you have last night?"

"Too good."

"Two good?" Andromeda punned, putting up two fingers.

"I'm not nearly as bad as everyone seems to think." He winked at her as he pulled on his shirt.

"No one thinks you're bad, Sirius."

"Alright, then. I'm not having nearly as much fun as everyone assumes."

"I don't believe you."

He drew an x across his heart. "Swear. What's for breakfast? Can I have bacon and sausages both?"

"You may not have anything until you wash up and sit down at the table," she replied, gliding from the room.

"Wait! Where are my cigs?"

"No smoking in the house!"

After a shower, Sirius stuffed himself on three plates of food in Andromeda's warm, cozy, kitchen. She really did spoil him and made the best baked beans on toast in the entire world. Giving his belly a little time to settle, Sirius sat, with Nymphy on his lap, as Andromeda read to them from a special illustrated fairy tale book that contained both Muggle and Wizarding stories. When he was ready to leave they went outside together and Sirius transformed into Padfoot so Nymphy could ride around on his back in the front yard. Andromeda took pictures because she and Sirius both knew what the little one didn't, that she was growing so fast they soon wouldn't be able to play her favorite game. "Turn back! Turn back!" Nymphy ordered, pulling on Padfoot's fur when she'd tired of the dog. Sirius transformed from four legs to two and carried his charge, still covered with blue fur, piggyback. He ran to and fro until he finally lost his breath and collapsed to the grass. "More! More!" Nymphy cried.

"You'd have better stamina if you stopped smoking." Andromeda peered down at him.

"Uh-oh, here comes the lecture," Sirius said, stopping to give Nymphy a kiss on each fuzzy cheek on his way to standing and wrapping her mother into a bear hug. "Oh, cousin Andromeda, it's a good thing you're so brilliant since I'm so not. If it weren't for you I suppose I'd still be pissing upwind."

"Don't be cheeky," Andromeda said, patting his face between her hands. "Visit again soon."

"As you wish." He took a step back and gave them each a deep bow before disapparating.


End file.
